The Hutchins Center Explains: How well has unconventional monetary policy worked?

In this 15-minute video, Ken Kuttner, the Robert F. White Class of 1952 Professor of Economics at Williams College, describes the elements of unconventional monetary policy: the Federal Reserve’s large-scale asset purchases, also known as quantitative easing, and the Fed’s use of forward guidance, or statements that give financial markets and the public information about where the Fed expects to take short-term interest rates.

Kuttner also summarizes the research that economists have done to determine how – and how well – unconventional monetary policy worked over the past decade. Kuttner’s presentation is drawn from a paper commissioned by the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, “Outside the box: Unconventional Monetary Policy in the Great Recession and Beyond.” Kuttner’s annotated slides are posted on this page – where you can also read more on unconventional monetary policy and how well it worked.